The use of amine and alkylene oxide polymer as flocculants and dewatering agents for sewage and in the paper industry as drainage aids and wet strength additives is well known. Not all polymers are equally good for all these purposes, however. Chlorine containing polymers, e.g., polyepichlorohydrin, have been quaternized with tertiary amines to make a variety of useful products. In U.S. Pat. No. 3,428,680 there are disclosed polyepichlorohydrins quaternized with a variety of acyclic tertiary amines having up to about 32 carbon atoms. The resulting quaternized polymers are said to be useful antibacterial agents.
Other similar quaternized polymers are described in U.S. Pat. No. 3,591,520 and are said to be useful in conjunction with metal salts for breaking oil-in-water emulsions. Still other uses are indicated in U.S. Pat. No. 3,674,725 where similar quaternized epichlorohydrin polymers are used as retention aids for starch on cellulosic fibers. Polyepichlorohydrins quaternized with lower tertiary alkyl amines are disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 3,320,317 wherein the products are utilized in the treatment of raw sewage. The copolymerization of various polyepoxides with epichlorohydrin or mixtures thereof with other monoepoxides e.g., propylene oxide to produce elastomers is disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 3,544,655.